Awaken
by asgardiansif
Summary: 15 years after Chell leaves, GLaDOS awakens another subject. Her objective is to see what happens when subjects are given no instructions. The air headed testing subject finds a broken Wheatley locked in a closet. Can two idiots survive the death trap known as Aperture Science, especially after awakening a AI scarier than GLaDOS? Core!Wheatley/OC, mentions of ChellDOS.
1. Form a Pair

Suddenly, she was awake. She awoke with a start, gasping for dear life as if she hadn't taken a breath for decades. She racked her mind for a clue at where she was. She was blank, remembering nothing; no name, no memories. _A tube? Why am I in a tube? _She thought, making herself aware of her surroundings. There were a dozen human sized tubes in a row on the wall. She squirmed, her short legs not helping her much.

_"Do not struggle. You'll only make it worse."_ There came a voice; it was female, that much was obvious. It had a slight robotic feel to it. _"You have been chosen, Testing Subject Number 837473, for a special task. Failure to comply with this will result in death. You have no choice." _Even though the tone of the voice was comforting and slow, the words didn't sound friendly. _"Please remain calm as you are removed from your chamber and sent to the resting room."_ A large claw like apparatus wound its way around her waist. The female opened her mouth to shout, but nothing came out. "_No use talking. You haven't spoken in decades. Hopefully, you'll never speak." _Green eyes scanned every corner for the source of this voice but no one, besides about 500 frozen humans, was present in this room. "_I should warn you. This place is a mess, because of her. But, it'll soon be clean. For now, you can fend for yourself. You're all by yourself, now. I'll check on you, maybe. There's food around here somewhere, I don't know about water."_

The girl was dropped into a room. It looked as if it was a cheap hotel room; a bed with dirty sheets, a mirror in the corner, a small closet and an even smaller bathroom. _"I'm testing to see how subjects react when left completely alone and are given no instructions. I'll help you out now, then that's it. A majority of everything here will kill you, you are alone but always being watched, and you will never be free. Good luck, Testing Subject 837473." _With that, came silence, total and complete silence.

She went over to the mirror in the corner, assessing her looks. She was deathly skinny, and looked sick. She was a small thing, with petite features. Emerald green eyes were accented with under eye bags, and her face was sunken in. She had a wild head of springy red curls. _Not completely bad. _She thought, making her way to a dresser. In the top drawer, was an outfit consisting of a white tank top and orange pants. The tank top read _ Aperture Laboratories_ across the test. "That's one mystery solved." she spoke for the first time, her voice was raspy and high pitched. She stripped, taking her clothes off and replacing them with these crisp new one. She found a pair of boot looking shoes in the next drawer, and placed them of her feet, falling over in the process. She rubbed her arm where she hit it on the bed, knowing a bruise would appear sooner or later. She was tired already, so she simply stayed on the floor and drifted off to sleep.

She awoke what seemed like days later, but was only a few hours later. The girl stood up, trying to get used to walking again. Aimlessly, she wondered to the door and opened it, thinking only after she opened it that there could have been some bloodthirsty animal on the other side. There wasn't, thank goodness. Hesitantly, she took quiet steps to a corridor of the left. It was dark, impossibly. Was there a bloodthirsty creature down here, perhaps? She felt around, trying to find a door or an opening of some sort. The hallway went on for what seemed like ever, maybe it did go on forever.

"Hello." A small, little voice said. A red glow appeared in the dark and so did a laser. "Target acquired." That was not good, she knew. Frantically, she smashed her body against what she thought was a wall. The wall turned out to be a door, and she fell right through it. Gunshots were heard moments later.

_Avoid red things that say hello._ She made a mental note, not wanting to ever get shot. Lights powered on and a lab type room was now apparent. There were test tubes, and file cabinets and a computer with a busted screen. She picked up papers that lay on the floor.

_**"HELP US THEY WANT TO PUT US IN ROBOTS"**_ Red letters seemed to scream at her.

_**"don't let them hurt her don't let them hurt her don't let them hurt her"**_ She frowned, reading the words on the page. Something seemed familiar about this place, and the letters gave her an even more unsettling feeling. The last note made her feel even more at edge

It was written in the same red ink but the paper was scribbled on, hard enough that some of it was ripped because of the force the writer put on the pen. _**"they took her and i'm next"**_ . What was happening? Who wrote these? Who's her? Carefully, she set the papers down, treating them as if they had feelings.

She walked to the large window in the back of the room, not daring to meet that red eyed little creature outside the door. Shrugging, she picked up the chair next to the desk and threw it forcefully at the glass, and it shattered like she thought it would. She peered over the edge of the broken window.

_That's really high._ Again, she simply shrugged and jumped right over the edge. To her surprise, she landed perfectly safe. She really didn't think before doing, did she?

This room was much like her room; only slightly bigger and nicer.

"That's not fair. Why do they get a better room?" She commented to herself, her voice sounding more natural. Some rustling was heard in the closet and she immediately backed up against a wall, frightened.

"Oi! Is someone actually in here? The closet. I'm in the closet. Open it, if you will. I won't force you too, though." A voice! A human sounding voice! Another human would be really nice right, she couldn't remember the last time she saw a human. "Although, please do." Slowly, she walked to the closet pushing it open. A large ball immediately fell from a tall shelf in the closet, knocking her right into the bed. "Oh, god. Is this really happening?" She was disappointed, this wasn't a human at all. "I was in there for years, you know. And now here you are! Turn me around! Turn me around!" The British voice was chipper, and smooth.

She backed away, not picking it up. What was this thing? "What are you?" Her voice was shaking, she was scared.

"What am I? Seems a bit impersonal, doesn't it? I'm, in fact, a who. A him, to be exact." She raised a thick brow, reaching over to turn the ball to the other side. "Thank you, dear. I guess I am what, in a way. I'm a core, a robot of sorts." She kept quiet, just studying the bot. He was badly treated, she could tell, his white casing was dirty and dented. He had a large thing that looked like a camera lens in the front of his body. The optic was a bright blue. "And you. You're a human. I thought they all died off , but here you are!"

"Died?" she cocked her head. "Where am I?" Questions buzzed in her head.

"Aperture Science, or rather, what remains of it. After she left, it hasn't been the same." He sounded sad. Was that even possible? She thought robots were incapable of feelings. "Names Wheatley, by the way." He sort of nodded, his lower lens cover forming into what looked like a smile. "You probably don't remember your name. It's a wonder you remembered how to talk, even. She couldn't talk. You look like an Anna. I'll call you that."

"Anna is my name, yes." She lied, going along with whatever he said. "She? Who's she?" He kept mentioning a girl, leaving her intrigued.

"That's a long story. Short version; orphan who can't talk, good with a portal gun, manages to take over this place twice. GLaDOS really doesn't like her, I reckon you've met her. Nasty, mean woman, that hunk of metal. Anyways, now she's out in the world, free from this place." He explained, rambling. He left out the part about becoming a power hungry dictator obsessed with Testing Solution Euphoria. Another story for a different day.

Anna had a blank look in her green eyes, he thought about mentioning she was probably brain damaged but didn't. "GLaDOS must be that voice I heard." Anna said, more to herself than the robot on the bed. "This place seems familiar but I can't remember anything. I remember waking up here, hours ago." Both of the voices she heard were familiar, giving her a feeling she's met these bots before.

"You know, lady, you look familiar. I've seen you before, I know it. Probably while you were frozen." Wheatley said, shifting and rolling over on the bed. "You probably don't remember anything because of the brain damage."

What? That was slightly offensive. "Brain damaged? Excuse me?" She put her hand on her hip.

"Side affect of being frozen for so long. Wheels been turning in there, but they haven't had a chance to charge up." She raised a brow even higher. Who did this thing think he was?

"Listen here, _Wheatley,_ you can't just go and call people brain damaged." Even though, she was being rude to him, he perked up.

"Ooh, that sounds nice! My name sounds good when other people say it."

"What do they normally call you?"

"Oh, you know, moron, Intelligence Dampening Core, idiot. The usual." He looked down, then right back up. "But, Wheatley sounds nice. First time I've heard it said in a while."

For a second, she felt pity for the little ball. Anna stared at him, the same blank look in her eyes as before. Suddently, she turned on her heels to exit the room.

"Wait, wait, _wait!_ Take me with you! Please! I've been in that closet for so long; so many spiders, so much dust, so much _dark_. We've had a nice bit of conversation, haven't we? I'll show you around, yeah? Tell you stories, find you food!" He paused for a second, looking up at her. "Just _please _take me with you!" Okay, he just sounded desperate now, but who cared?

She turned back around, and he giddily spun in his casings. "How do I this? Just..." She bent down, picking him up by those handles on his side. "...like that!" she grinned at him proudly.

"Oh, this is the start of something, I can feel it!"

With that, two idiots were on their way. What a duo.


	2. Cry to Sleep

Feelings were complicated, GLaDOS had learned. She had been gone for, what?, fifteen years now? There was just simply no one like her. This new Testing Subject, the red head, was nothing like Chell. This Subject was air headed, and Chell was insanely smart. Chell was gone. Forever. She would never, in her right mind, return to Aperture Science. P-Body and Atlas were long gone. They got so..._boring._ They did everything she wanted them too, how tiring and boring. GLaDOS exploded the bots about ten years ago. For the next five years, everything was quiet, nice, peaceful. It was a spur of the moment to wake this human up. GLaDOS missed humans, as crazy that sounded. They were so fun to torture. Speaking of humans, how was this one doing? Dead, hopefully. She switched on her cameras, searching the screens for signs of her. There she was, walking along the Relaxation Chamber hallway.

"_Oh, no._" She said. The human had that stupid Intelligence Dampening Core in her arms. '_Not him, anyone but him_.' He had been locked away in a random closet, and she had found him apparently. She had to separate them.

This robot would not shut up. Anna might have been one for conversation, if she wasn't so damned tired and confused about this whole situation. He was rambling on about something, and she had tuned him out. _Maybe I should have left him back there._ She thought, but immediately felt bad. It was clear this core was miserably lonely, and so was she. She wanted to ramble too, to ask questions about _everything_.

"You don't talk much. You've got a blank look in your eyes, looks like nothings going on in that brain." She scowled at him. She did agree though, she could barely think straight and her mind wondered to fuzzy memories. Brain damage didn't seem so crazy.

"I'm tired." She took the core in both of her hands now, and she was facing him. "We're going to sleep now. Do you sleep?"

The lower cover of his optic curled into what looked like a smile. "I don't think so. I can just turn off, sleep mode. Doesn't feel like sleep, though." He watched as she took him into another bedroom. "Oh, lovely. This is nice. You go to sleep and I'll...stay awake." She set him on the bedside table, facing forward so the room was lit up with a blue tint. "Oh, I see. You're using me as a night light." He nodded, heavy lidded.

She didn't even remember falling asleep, but she apparently had done so. She stretched, making a small squeaking noise.

"_The king was in his counting-house, counting out his money; The queen was in the parlor, eating bread and honey_._" _The British voice was singing, obviously bored and having waited for her to finally wake up. "Oh, good! You're awake! I thought you had died in your sleep."

"That would be gruesome. You'll be stuck there to watch my dead body decompose."

"...Right." There was a comfortable silence after that, broken by her stomach growling, but he didn't know what that was. "I'm not sure what that noise is but it came from inside of you, so you may or may not be dying." Shame, he had just met her, too.

"Hungry." she simply said, getting up to inspect the mini fridge in the room. "Hey!" She grabbed a can of peaches in the very back of the bridge. The logo looked old, worn out. _Expires Mar 21__st__ 1984_. "What year is it, Wheatley?" She turned to face him, and he quickly nodded.

"My internal clock says it's currently July 15th 2020." He watched her, amused. Humans were odd creatures. Her face twisted into a disgusted expression. "Oh, ha ha! You should see the look on your face right now!" She walked over to him, and promptly smacked the side of his body. "Okay, maybe I deserved that."

She picked him up, holding him by one of the handles on the top of his body. "You're heavy. There's got to be some way for you to move around so I don't have you carry you." She spoke lightly, not wanting to offend the little ball.

"I see how it is. I'm too _strong_ for you to hold. You know, I'm considered quite an attractive core around here. The strongest of the strong cores around here, mate." Okay, _maybe_ he was lying about that but he wasn't the _worst_ core someone could pick.

"Something like that." She said, grinning lightly. He looked up.

"Oh, I forgot about the management rail. You can just pop me back on. Jam me right in. Gentle though, dear, please." She hugged him to her chest so she had more access to plug the back of him into the rail on the ceiling. "What a nice view." He replied, cheekily. She climbed onto the bed, jumped once and he was connected to the management rail once again. "Thank you. I've known you for, what, a few hours now, and you're already so nice. Nice change of pace, eh?"

"Can we go and have a look around? She said I was on my own, so I think that means I have free range of the place." It was exciting, she thought. It was also extremely terrifying. _I've got him, now, too._ She wasn't alone, and it made her feel comfortable.

He nodded. "Oh, sure. I'll lead the way, be your tour guide of sorts." His lower lens curled up into a smile, again. This was fun! This human was good company, she actually talked back to him. Not that he didn't miss Chell, because he did, terribly. "You know, humans are lovely. I've only ever met human females, though. Well, that's not true. I've seen males, but I've never seen one that wasn't sleeping, dead, or poking at me in the lab." She was following him, he noted, suddenly feeling critical. He could lead her anywhere, maybe accidentally kill her. Wheatley was positive Anna was the last person he'd probably ever meet and he didn't want to lose the joys of the company of someone else.

Anna tried to remember anyone she knew, before she had woken up. She knew people existed in her memories, but they were hazy. "I don't remember anyone." She kept a close eye on him, watching him as his blue optic looked down. "You're the first person I've met, expect you're not a person. The robot that dropped me here was actually the first thing I talked to."

He listened to her voice; it was so light, as if she was constantly afraid of saying the wrong thing. She was like Chell in the fact that they let Wheatley do his rambling, but with Chell, it was obvious what she was thinking. She relied more on facial expressions, but Anna always had the same blank look in her eyes. It was rather endearing, he thought. "I've got all the constructs of a person, minus the gangly bits and fleshy skin." Wheatley said, almost chirping. "I feel pain, by the way. Remember that in the future."

She nodded her head to the side before opening a door on her left. This room was a mess, half of the room was gone. She promptly closed the door, turning to Wheatley. She looked up to him, and promptly held her arms out. "Pop off that rail, please."

"Will you actually catch me, because that'd be great." He said, sounding slightly bitter about the fact he was never caught."Alright, I'll come down on the count of three. One, two...three." Now, Wheatley wanted to applaud Anna for trying to catch him, but she didn't quiet catch him.

She laid on the ground on her back, the wind knocked out of her. The fact that a thirty pound robot was resting on her. "Ouch..." she panted, watching Wheatley roll to the side of her.

"I applaud you for trying, love. I also apologize for...that. Is everything still intact in there? No organs out of place, no internal bleeding?" He said, blinking rapidly.

She nodded. "Sorry that I couldn't catch you." Anna sat up, gaining her breath back.

"You don't need to-"

The two were interrupted by a stirring noise. _Her._ "_Oh, look at that. It's almost touching, really. An idiot finds company in an air head._" Anna furrowed her brows, feelings hurt. _"You know, moron, I never wanted to see you again. She was the one who saved you from being sucked into space. I would have let you go with her to the surface, but I don't think the above world is ready for so much stupidity." _

Anna, the queen of not thinking before she talked, picked up Wheatley with one hand and pointed the index finger of her other hand in the air, trying to find the source of this robotic voice. "Hey, that's not nice!"

GLaDOS laughed, a completely dead-pan. "_Nice, I'm not exactly known for my niceness."_ Wheatley nodded his optic. "_You know, twenty years ago, I would have killed someone for saying something like that. But, for know, I'll let you live. Instead, I'll just..." _

Suddenly, the hallway behind them burst into flames. Both of them felt the heat of the fire, and she promptly took off running with the core in her arms.

"Go, go, go, go,go,go,go!" Wheatley said frantically, taking large breaths he didn't even need. It was more for dramatic effect. She kept running for what seemed like ages, until the ledge suddenly ended, as it had been ripped off. "Jump, jump, jump!" She peered over the edge, taking in a sharp breath. She closed her eyes, and lept off. "Why-why are your eyes closed?! Hold me tighter, tighter! Okay, _too tight!_"

She landed, her boots saving her from breaking her legs, surely. She set Wheatley aside, curled into a ball, and started crying.

"Hey, hey, hey." He rolled into her side, trying to do his best to comfort her. "You're doing great already and we haven't even started!" She promptly began bawling. "You talked back to GLaDOS, defending me, nonetheless!" He really was grateful for that. "Listen, we'll break out of here. And, this time, I'll do everything right. It'll be alright, love."

Her cries subsided until they became whimpers. Without words, she rolled to her side and fell asleep.

"You're welcome, by the way." Wheatley grumbled.


End file.
